There are a number of applications that require the dilution of multiple chemical concentrates for spray application. One type of application that involves applying different types of chemical agents includes firefighting. There are three differing types of firefighting chemicals that are used to fight wild land, municipal, industrial, and structural fires. These include, but are not limited to, long-term retardant, foam, and water enhancing gels. Each of these agents possesses unique properties for fighting fire with particular tactics and tasks depending on the situation. Examples include fire suppression, line building and holding, mop-up/overhaul and prevention. It would be desirable for the fireman to utilize any or all of these options/agents when situations arise so that the most effective firefighting or fire management strategy can be utilized. Since the liquid firefighting agents are offered as concentrates, these concentrates must be diluted with water prior to application. This requires a proportioning and dispensing system. However, these agent chemical concentrates are generally incompatible with each other and exhibit vastly different properties such as viscosity, flowability, and density. Furthermore, each of the agent firefighting concentrates is mixed with water at unique and different ratios of weight or volume per unit of water. Consequently, separate and unique proportioning and discharging systems are needed in order to prepare and use each of them. The logistics of having three types of hardware systems available at a moment's notice, often in remote and difficult terrain, has precluded the fireman from having the availability of more than one system. Thus, the fireman has been required to predetermine the agent firefighting concentrate that is required prior to going to the place of application. This can often result in having the least desirable agent available for a given situation.
Consequently, there is a significant need for a single mixing system that would be capable of proportioning, diluting, and dispensing any of a number of agent firefighting chemicals easily and quickly. There is also the need to dilute multiple chemicals in agriculture and horticulture applications, and military, civil protection, and environmental protection agency applications such as decontamination or neutralization, e.g., biological, nuclear, and chemical.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.